Contacts of confirmed COVID-19 patients do not need to be tested unless identified as high-risk based on age or co-morbidities, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Monday.
Individuals with symptoms such as cough, fever, sore throat or loss of taste or smell too need to be tested.
In a fresh set of guidelines, the ICMR said testing of samples is needed for at-risk contacts of patients who are above 60 years of age and individuals with co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic lung or kidney disease, malignancy and obesity.
Also individuals undertaking international travel (as per country-specific requirements) may be tested.
For hospitals, the ICMR directed that no emergency procedure should be delayed for lack of a test, and patients should also not be referred to other facilities for lack of a testing facility.
Don’t test women in labour
In another important indication, the ICMR said asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical or non-surgical invasive procedures, including pregnant women in/near labour who are hospitalised for delivery, should not be tested unless warranted or symptoms develop.
It added that patients discharged after home isolation or patients being discharged from a COvID-19 facility need not be tested.
The ICMR said the advisory was generic in nature and could be modified as per the discretion of the State health authorities for specific public health and epidemiological reasons.“Testing can be undertaken either through RT-PCR, TrueNat, CBNAAT, CRISPR, RT-LAMP, Rapid Molecular Testing Systems or through Rapid Antigen Test (RAT),” it said.
A positive point-of-care test (home or self-test/RAT) and molecular test is to be considered confirmatory without any repeat testing, it added.